Saturday, January 18, 2014

In August 2011 the UK was plagued by riots following a protest in Tottenham after the death of a local man. Thousands of people in London boroughs and in cities and towns across the UK were involved in the riots, which were alternatively dubbed the ‘BlackBerry riots’ as people were using mobile devices and social media to organize groups of rioters.

As of the 15th August, more than 3,000 people had been arrested, more than 1,000 of which were charged. Included in this figure were two males in their twenties, who set up an event on Facebook, called ‘Smash Down in Northwich Town’ for the night of August 8th. Following a court appearance, the pair were sentenced to four years in jail for seeking to take advantage of crime elsewhere in the country, invoking fear and anticipated violence in the local vicinity.

Whilst this is an extreme case of social media being taken seriously by the law, it does highlight the important role that it plays in our lives today. You only need to send a total of two messages which are offensive, rude or designed to provoke a reaction can be classed as harassment and could land you in jail for anything between 6 months and 10 years.

So stop and think about the message you’re about to send, and the implications of what you plan to say.